DOOM (1993)

It's absolutely insane to me that there are people who complain about this re-release.
Not only is it a big accessible package of all things classic Doom, it's free to previous owners AND it's optional. You can rollback to the previous re-release via beta or use dosbox and the wads with sourceports, same as always.
You just got more options now, it's literally a win-win.
It's awesome that coop and MP can now be played right out of the box.
Awesome job to all the teams involved.
And congratulations to Andrew Hulshult for having his IDKFA album added to classic Doom officially. It's heartwarming to see how far you've come.

New update is insane.
Keep up the good work.
P.S. Poke Hexen/Heretic

It isn't a review, it's an ode.
When I started, Doom was a dark magic forest to me. The first time I saw it, it ran very slowly on a weak PC. I had to play on low settings, which turned everything mushy. It overworked my imagination, so I had to shut the game down almost instantly, terrified by the moaning abominations. Soon, they began to fear me. Doom's influence on my psyche was as immense as its cultural impact. It was one of the earliest birds, so no wonder it also became overgrown with mythical rumours. Now, let me tell you what isn't a myth: playing keyboard-only. Apparently, some find it hard to believe, but I personally played Doom like that for the first few years of its existence. It just didn't occur to me to use my mouse for anything but point-&-clicks. I played it the same way I played Wolf3D: arrow keys, hold alt to strafe, ctrl to shoot, space to interact. Nothing fancy. It worked in its handicapped way.
Edge
This announcement has pulled me out of Elden Ring, nothing else could. Finally, a version from the mad lads in Nightdive! KEX does the job visually. Andrew Hulshult's OST seems decent, however, I'm too sentimentally attached to appreciate it. It barely retains, doesn't hit the same. Unlike Doom itself! My love for it never fades. But the newcomers can enjoy it as much as us old farts - the classics play better than most modern indie shooters. This is why, when asked to name an iconic duo, Romero & Carmack pop up before Tom & Jerry in my mind's eye. The level of innovation and its edgy implementation was outrageous. Look at all the skulls, mutilations, inverted crosses, rivers of blood! Touch yourself. To this day, Romero's vibrant vision of Hell, built with planks and green marble, as well as Carmack's technophile ingenuity stand in defiance of time. And the content on offer would be enormous even without Romero's brilliant Sigil or MachineGames' new episode.
I marathon the games and expansions every few years... oh, spare me your petty grievances. I enjoy them all. Okay, except for the ugly, obnoxious Master Levels. I typically played via GZDoom, so I almost forgot how the originals looked after decades. And this version of Doom looks like I remember, except we know how one's mind embellishes memories, either creating a crispier picture or covering it in fog. The current appearance matches my best nostalgic delusions accurately. It looks as faithful as your PrBoom, captures the right balance while preserving artistic intents. I already played Doom in all of its iterations, so I might as well settle for a higher fidelity these days. But not something that drastically changes things like Brutal Doom, for example. Nightdive kept it close to vanilla, only carefully retouched by upscaling and quality-of-life options. I don't need, say, advanced lighting or full mouselook to consider this edition definitive and play it from now on until I'm done.
Ultra-Violence
No matter the approach or what version I play, Doom makes me feel at home, providing an old-fashioned massacre to indulge in both during moments of respite and amidst the hassle of everyday life. I don't need to think or sweat, I don't need a map, I vibe. Throughout my regular binges, I never tried to kill all monsters or find all secrets. Why ruin the pacing? I love this game's tempo, follow the beats of its pulse, going fast on instinct yet not to the detriment of the experience. Doom dictates how I play it, I don't dare force its mighty hand. Thus, I kill as many as I want and explore as long as I enjoy the process before moving on to the next level. These colourful labyrinths are a challenge to traverse. I can't get enough of the topological puzzles, albeit, I imagine their intricate nature to be the steepest curve to learn. And all the tricks and traps lodged within can be maliciously unfair. Save.
At this point, Doom is one of my senses, alas, lots of its devious cat's belly ambushes still get me after all these years! That ability to catch an old player off guard speaks in Doom's favour. Aside from the nasty surprises, I can't really tell if Ultra-Violence is hard or not, for I know the games too well to make an assessment. I'd play with fast monsters from Nightmare, not with respawn. I find it annoying and unsatisfying, it's a different game I don't care for. But I can call Ultra-Violence well-balanced: foes are predictable, reasonably tanky, they flinch and get staggered, their damage output is fair, and there's only a mild ammo shortage without fanaticism. One eventually learns to automatically remember where they left stuff lying around, besides, it urges weapon swap. I die a bunch, especially to revenants, chaingunners, or trying to rocket a lost soul. To Plutonia, in general. Regardless, it's a feel-good game rather than a ball-buster. A visceral, varied, frantically paced kaleidoscope of murder.
Song of Doom
With enemy designs so badass, so vivid they enter one's dreams. Each demonic spawn demands a separate tactic, has character, and they come in unceasing, in-fighting, impressively large, chequered HORDES. The games don't hesitate to unleash a few dozen monsters on you from the start, constantly escalating, and it's a feat that hasn't been reproduced quite on the same scale in corridor shooters to this day. Not as thoughtfully. Here, the pioneers had to get particularly inventive when devising iconic encounters, environmental hazards, and the legendary line-up of guns to match the pressure. I don't need to describe these guns, for Doom was a trendsetter. Everyone who played a shooter recognises the trace of tits arsenal in every FPS that followed even if they never played the games. The super-shotty deserves a special mention because it's one of two reasons why Doom II is superior to Doom I, which doesn't have the SSG. But it also makes Doom I harder... *cough* Thy Flesh Consumed. An acquired taste.
The second reason is the lack of mancubi. Being a big fan of the big boys, I'm not so bad at imitating their barks. Still have a problem with caco's. Aren't they the cutest little raspberries? Yes, RASPBERRIES, meatballs are pain elementals! Anyway, the barks are instantly recognisable and, coupled with other juicy sounds, make it easy to discern what part of the monster roster inhabits the room you just entered and where they are. That's another thing not every modern shooter can achieve, no matter the technological advancements. All in all, the battles are such a blast you'll soon forget how old the games are. Each enemy has a rhythm of attacks for you to match with the rhythm of your shots, the swapping of guns, and nimble sidesteps at the speed of a car. It's a melody, a song of hurting flesh sung by a surrealist construct of abstract madness that wraps around the player like a venomous centipede. Am I waxing? No, it's Doom that's poetry.
Mods
I ascertain it every time I play, falling in love again. You probably reckon as much by this point in this self-indulgent gooning session. But who needs to know all the technicalities to be convinced in this case? The proof is in the bloody pudding, the price is right, and the legacy speaks for itself. To be a bit useful, if you're into Doom mods, play The Adventures of Square. It looks like a joke at first glance, but it's a GREAT standalone. Not yet on Steam for some ungodly reason. I would chop off my pinkie if it meant exposing the world to that hardcore gem. Try Sunlust and Eviternity as well. These babies will get you started on the highest note possible. And don't miss Hedon, a killer TC. I'm out before I went overboard by giving 50 recommendations no one would follow at the end of a review no one would read. A hopeless doomer, Romero's b#tch, I express myself to the void. Knowing full well what I'll keep feverishly raving about when I reach its event horizon.
My curator Big Bad Mutuh

My most favorite game of all time. Great game, great port.
When I first wrote my review you couldn't play with mods online but the latest update at time of editing did add this and is no longer an issue.
Also for those who are new to Doom mods: Brutal Doom and Myhouse.wad WON'T work on this port. Those rely on a source port like GZDoom or Zandronum to work. Anything ending in .pk3 won't work either.

This isnt just a bundle of the first two games, this is a brand new source port and it runs very well, oh and it also has a built in mod browser and the return of PVP/co op servers in 2024 we are so back

The absolute best. Rip and tear, until it is done.
Military shooters are a dime a dozen. Hero shooter are more likely to crash and burn than not. Extraction shooters are just the latest fad. Doom on the other hand...
Doom is eternal.

DOOM:
4h48m
Genuinely holds up not that bad, if you don't mind no vertical aiming that is. Levels all feel unique and well designed. Solid game, lots of fun.
8/10
DOOM II:
5h57m
It's like DOOM but better in some ways and imo worse in some ways.
The better:
- Super shotgun
- More enemy variety
- No forced pistol start every episode
The worse:
- Maps are worse
- Archvile and Chaingunner
8/10
Master Levels for Doom II:
6h12m
This was a bad levelset, I thought DOOM II's levels were bad, but this takes the cake.
Too many of these levels require doing some super secret level shit in order to complete it (hidden walls, obscure buttons that you have no idea what opens when you press it, invisible platforms, ect.)
5/10
TNT: Evilution:
7h46m
This was definitely an improvement over Master Levels. None of the levels stood out to me as bad, some had minor issues but it wasn't too bad.
The biggest overall issue for me was the squishy enemy spam.
Every level had a stupid amount of imps, zombiemen, shotgunners and chaingunners. Also the final boss requiring you to be one step down despite that not being in line with the hole is very odd.
Besides all that it's basically just more Doom II.
7/10
The Plutonia Experiment:
6h22m
This was definitely the most fun classic doom experience so far. It was insanely difficult at times but the levels were a lot of fun. Some levels were complete dogshit tho like the Sewers level. But overall a good experience.
Probably my favourite of all the games included in DOOM + DOOM II.
9/10
No Rest for the Living:
1h57m
After playing Plutonia this felt like taking a stroll in a flower field. Not to say it isn't hard, or isn't good for that matter, just a lot slower.
This is a fun episode, the levels were pretty creative.
8/10
Sigil:
1h22m
I really enjoyed these levels, the new hidden buttons to shoot to open most secrets was refreshing from the usual wall humping.
The game being an expansion for UDoom means no super shotgun, which is a shame but at least it also meant no chaingunners or archviles.
It was a lot of fun with some extremely pretty set pieces, never seen levels this pretty in a classic doom game before, I am impressed.
8/10
Sigil II:
1h51m
Although this game is not one of the main titles, it is still an official Doom expansion, you just have to download it through the mod menu.
The maps had the same theme and atmosphere as the first Sigil, but they were just executed so much worse. Still wasn't horrible.
7/10
Legacy of Rust:
5h39m
Initially my opinions on this expansion were "It's worse than Master Levels for Doom II" but fortunately it was just the first few levels that really fucking stinked.
Genuinely the worst map I've ever played was E1M3, it was so bad I almost quit this entirely.
But after that level things got better, not amazing but better.
The last couple of levels in episode 2 were fun, mainly because they gave you a shit ton of fuel for the calamity blade.
6/10
Other notes:
All levels were completed on Ultra Violence.
Total completion time: 41h54m
Ranking of the games from best to worse:
1. The Plutonia Experiment
2. No Rest for The Living
3. DOOM
4. Sigil
5. DOOM II
6. TNT: Evilution
7. Sigil II
8. Legacy of Rust
9. Master Levels for Doom II